Michelle Gabrieloff-Parish stands with the yet-unnamed Cold War horse sculpture by artist Jeff Gipe near the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and the Candelas development last month. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Your reporter Electra Draper did a commendable job in reporting on the current situation regarding new housing construction next to the closed Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant.

However, the article could have included mention of two very relevant publications. One is the series of reports by Dr. Carl Johnson, head of the Jefferson County Health Department, published in the 1980s. These reports showed a clear positive correlation of wind speed and direction from the Rocky Flats plant with increased human cancer rates downwind from the plant.

The other is the recent book “Full Body Burden” by Kristin Iversen, relating her coming of age in Arvada and her recent discovery of the plant’s history. In particular, Iversen covers in detail the plutonium fires in 1957 and 1969 that could have become major environmental disasters had they not been brought under control by heroic plant workers who risked their lives to extinguish them. She also describes how the residents of Arvada were largely clueless about what actually went on at the plant.

Please continue to inform the public about this story.

Stephen L. Sargent, Arvada

This letter was published in the Feb. 15 edition.

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“Iversen covers in detail the plutonium fires in 1957 and 1969 that could have become major environmental disasters had they not been brought under control by heroic plant workers who risked their lives to extinguish them.”
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A less sensationalistic way of saying this might be: “…the plutonium fires in 1957 and 1969 didn’t cause any serious environmental damage because they were brought under control and extinguished by plant workers who had been specifically trained and drilled to respond to these types of situations.”

In other words, the safeguards and response plans they had in place worked as they were supposed to. Of course, that doesn’t jibe with the letter writers histrionic agenda.

#2 Comment By peterpi On February 15, 2014 @ 12:26 am

In one fire. something like three out of four air filter systems failed. Had that fourth air filter system failed, Denver or Boulder would have been in deep do-do, depending on wind currents.
If plutonium is exposed to air, it spontaneously catches fire, it’s reaction with oxygen is so strong. This has been known practically from the moment plutonium was first made in a nuclear reactor. But in both fires, numerous glove boxes failed. Inhaled plutonium particles are a very potent carcinogen.

You’ll note Mr. Sargeant mentioned the heroic plant workers who risked their lives to prevent a disaster. I wonder how many suffered a radiation burden that shortened their careers, and possibly their lives.
But feel free to sugar-coat it.

.

#3 Comment By Papa Smurf On February 15, 2014 @ 3:20 am

Plutonium is one of the nastiest substances known to man, and there are inherent risks associated with its use. Those who work in the industry know, and accept, those risks. I don’t think it’s sugar-coating anything to point out that they had protocols in place to deal with these threats and that they worked as advertised. That’s why they have triple- and quadruple redundancies in place, and highly trained personnel to respond. We all know what the potential hazards are (think Chernobyl), but the reality is that the U.S. Nuclear industry, be it commercial power generation, weapons research and production, nuclear medicine, or nuclear propulsion for the Navy, is one of the safest industries there is. Despite that, there are those who oppose it on philosophical and/or political grounds, and who are not above sensationalizing incidents in order to bolster their arguments.

#4 Comment By Old_Enough On February 15, 2014 @ 7:49 am

And I wonder how many of those workers are still alive.

#5 Comment By thor On February 15, 2014 @ 9:16 am

All jobs have there risks. People in the World Trade Center, teachers in schools that post “We are a gun free zone,” cops, soldiers, truck drivers (like me), workers on a cruise ship and on and on.

#6 Comment By eddie47d On February 15, 2014 @ 10:44 am

Yes every job has its risks. I could wake up in the morning and fall down the stairs too but should I stop waking up? LOL! The difference is that no one working on a cruise ship goes to work thinking they are going to die. Truck drivers never wake up and think they are going to die or ever be harmed. Plutonium plant workers know they are working in a dangerous environment and know they someday will have health problems. No matter how many safety measures are put in place they know a Fukishima could take place or a canister could break open. They are deliberately put in harms way just by applying for the job so that’s a big difference in risk.

#7 Comment By eddie47d On February 15, 2014 @ 11:14 am

Big difference in Rocky Flats workers and truck drivers. Truck drivers don’t work with dangerous chemicals unless your driving an oil tanker where the fumes can affect your health or the fear of an explosion affecting other people.

#8 Comment By peterpi On February 15, 2014 @ 1:30 pm

Nice icon!

#9 Comment By Dano2 On February 15, 2014 @ 1:39 pm

Of course, that doesn’t jibe with the letter writers histrionic agenda.

Informing new residents about the history of a site = histrionic agenda.

Uh-huh.

*eye roll*

Best,

D

#10 Comment By Dave52 On February 15, 2014 @ 1:56 pm

There was a while there where if you ever worked at Rocky Flats, there wasn’t a medical insurance company in the country that would touch you. I think, but not positive, that employees ended up with the VA.

#11 Comment By Dave52 On February 15, 2014 @ 1:58 pm

What I hadn’t known about was the FBI raid, and the secret fly-overs that caught them red-handed doing illegal burning.

#12 Comment By peterpi On February 15, 2014 @ 3:58 pm

I vaguely recall some bill passing through Congress that indemnified all contractors for the workers’ radiation-related or plutonium-related illnesses. So, the government picked up the workers’ medical costs, somehow.
Government medical care — for the people the private system can’t be bothered to deal with.

#13 Comment By peterpi On February 15, 2014 @ 3:59 pm

The grand jury report about that was then sealed, with the grand jurors facing prison time if they ever divulged what the improprieties were.